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So, whatziss?
Those of you who were going down the tractor/bulldozer route were correct, though it's not one that ever made it into US military stocks.
It's a "Shervick." A tractor built by the Vickers company at the request of the British government after the end of WWII, deliberately using components of suddenly excess Sherman tanks. It was a swords-to-ploughshares project of the British government. In 1945, Europe was in a shambles, especially it's agriculture and industrial sectors, heavily damaged and impacted by 7 years of war across some of it's most fertile areas, the destruction of a goodly portion of it's transportation infrastructure, and the bombing efforts on the german munitions industry was concomitantly a bombing effort on it's agri-chemicals industry and overall industrial capacity.
One of the programs conceived to help alleviate this was the "Groundnut Scheme." Groundnut being apparently what the Brits call peanuts. Under this plan, peanuts were going to be grown in East Africa to offset the huge shortage of oils and fats in Europe while Europe's infrastructure was being rebuilt. During the first year’s operations, the plan was to clear150,000 acres for cultivation. There was a problem - regular agricultural equipment was not robust enough to defeat the 10-ft high Kongwa thorn bush, and besides, was needed in Europe to rebuild their agriculture - so recycling tanks seemed a good idea.
Hit the Flash Traffic/Extended entry for the rest of the story.
In September 1947, the British Government approached Vickers-Armstrongs to explore the idea of converting surplus US-built M4 Sherman tanks into industrial tractors capable of the work needed for peanut plan. They were to initially convert 500 the first year, rising to 1,000 the year after.
The task involved complete dismantling of a Sherman Mark III tank and the inspection, cleaning, and overhaul of the track assembly and differential units.
The suspension unit in the Shervick removed one of the three original twin bogies of the Sherman and welded grousers (extensions to the track to increase width, decreasing ground pressure) to each track. A completely new frame was manufactured comprising floor and top flanged side plates with box-section cross-members on the front and center of the body. The centre box girder was extended on each side of the tractor and ended in two, heavy, square flanges to which the main attachment for a tree-dozer and stump-puller was welded.
The power plant was a General Motors, two-stroke, six-cylinder diesel (one of the types fitted to the Sherman tank, a variety that mostly went to the Russians). A new transfer drive unit was fitted to the engine flywheel housing and this had the double function of providing primary gear reduction between the engine and gearbox of 2 to 1, and also a power take-off to drive a winch and other auxiliary equipment.
In the event, the Shervicks were not able to take on the brush alone, having to work in three-vehicle teams, with two Shervicks towing a chain between them, to rip out the brush and trees, and a third to attack the really stubborn ones.
For more details of this Brit colonial venture - check out The Tanganyikan Groundnuts Scheme.
It just struck me as... interesting.
So, did anyone read this far?
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